You're listening to the Success Minded Woman Podcast with Deidrea Kiesling, episode 41. Make 2024 your best year yet.

Hi, I'm Deidrea, wife and mom to three teenagers, coffee snob, and certified life and business coach. If you're a high achieving goal oriented woman and you know you were meant for more, then you are a success minded woman and you're in the right place. I'm here to help you make the money and the impact you've been dreaming of.

To step into your confidence, create habits and systems to support you. Ditch that imposter syndrome and harness the power of your mind. If you're ready to create a life and business you love, then let's go. I'm so glad you're here.

I am still coming off the high from last Friday, the Women's Growth Summit. It was my first speaking engagement in front of a large group of women. The Growth Summit was an amazing day of learning and connection and community with like minded women. We had fun together. We learned, we shared and a little tears now and again, because there's nothing like when a group of women get together to support each other, to grow together for connection and community.

And really, there were parts of it where people got really vulnerable and really shared, um, some, some things that happened to them in their life, some things they're dealing with right now in their life. And, and we were all in it together to help each other and support each other. And I heard from many of my clients that attended it, that they, when they got home and they were kind of processing everything that they just cried because it, it was actually, it was one of the things that they've been craving, like.

Just to be together in a room with so many women supporting each other and connecting and, and, and the growth that they personally had from some of the exercises and some of the teaching. So  it was amazing and definitely a dream come true for me. Okay,  so yesterday I led an online workshop called make 2024 your best year yet.

And it was so good. The ladies got so much out of it, asked questions, shared their insights and played full out. And like with anything. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. And that is so true with your goals, with your habits and with your planning. And so I thought, why not share the workshop teachings that I shared in the training with you all here on the podcast.

And I also had this amazing work. Book that goes along with it so that you can use it to do the exercises and write everything out and create your plan for 2024. So I'm going to share that with all of you. So go to my website, the dream academy.com/workbook and I will send you the workbook.  Today on the podcast, I'm going to give you all the details for each section in the workbook.

So basically I'm going to share with you what I shared and walk the ladies through on The, uh, online class yesterday. So if this resonates with you to get the workbook and use this podcast episode to help you complete the workbook, let me know if you have any questions or you want to share your insights or your action steps that you will complete once you go through that workbook, or once you listen to this episode and start implementing some of these things, I would love to hear from you.

So you can email me at. deidrea at the dream academy. com.  So my name deidrea spelled a little different. It's D E I D R E A at the dream academy. com. I reply to every email I get. And I absolutely love hearing from you, my listeners. And this is why I do this podcast every week. This is  Podcast lessons, concepts, motivation, inspiration, guidance, and coaching.

I wish I had when I was stopping and starting my business with my dream of doing this, when I was going after my goals to lose weight, to create healthy habits and create healthy routines, doing what I love. Helping women, empowering women to create a life. They absolutely love living because I know it's possible with the right information, inspiration, motivation, mindset, not just the information, but how to actually apply it in your life for growth and action to create the results you would love to help you overcome, overwhelmed, befriend your fear, embrace discomfort on the way to your goals and dreams.

Create processes and systems and plans to help you, and most importantly, to love and trust yourself, to believe in yourself and your dreams, and to know, to trust that What you are dreaming of, what is calling you, is possible for you. It's meant for you.  And to notice your longings and your discontent, what you would love more of and what you would prefer less of.

To know that these are both Required for growth. These are the signals of growth calling you to create your best life and make the money and the impact you're dreaming of, or maybe not dreaming of. Maybe, you know, you were meant for more, but not sure exactly what it is. The work I do, this podcast, my coaching program, the emails I send out each week, the webinars, the Facebook lives, the speaking engagements, all of it is for you to help you.

And I wish I had. It, this is what I needed in my journey to create the life and business of my dreams. Because what I know for sure is that wishing and dreaming and talking about it and even listening and learning all the things will not get you there. It's in the action in the implementation is where all of your results come from.

And that is what this episode is all about. Okay, here we go.  Imagine it's January 1st, 2025. And it all worked out. You achieved your goals. You showed up for yourself, even when you didn't want to, even when it was hard. You were 100 percent committed to who you are becoming in the process. You knew where you were going and what it takes to make it happen.

2024 is your Year. You get to decide what you want for your life and then make it happen. Everything that you're imagining is possible for you. And in this podcast episode, I'm gonna give you the 12 steps to make 2024 your best year.  And this might be a little bit longer episode, but I wanna make sure I cover everything.

So come back if you can't listen to it all or listen to it again to make sure you get all of it. Okay, step one.  Pick your word of the year. So you may have heard this before or maybe you've been doing this for years. It's kind of becoming, uh, a very popular thing to do.  So even if you've already picked your word for the year, you can go through this exercise.

So choosing a word of the year, it really seems like a small thing, but it's a powerful personal development practice. You'll choose just one word. that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live in 2024.  So choose one word that you can focus on every day all year long. Your word becomes the compass that will direct your daily decisions, your goals, and what you're focusing on for the year.

So Here's a few, uh, possible words for the year, and in the workbook, I list, I have a whole page of possible words of the year, and of course, you might have your own, so, so write out the ones, think about the ones that resonate for you.  Okay, here's a few that came up on the class yesterday. Fearless.  Focus.

Courage. Here's a few more from the workbook.  Abundant. Generous. Expansive. Clarity. Grateful, present, bold. These are just some of them. Think about the word, one word that really  represents how you want to be in 2024 and you might want to pick out a few and then really, um, sit with that and do this journaling exercise that will help you pick one word.

So you want to consider words that are coming to your mind and then. Take three minutes and journal on this how you want to feel so in your journal And I have this in the workbook you write I want to feel and then you set your timer for three minutes And you just journal you just let it flow how you want to feel this year so You may want to have a year to slow down and rest more.

Maybe last year was really busy or hectic or you had a lot of unexpected circumstances come up and you might be longing for some stillness. Or maybe you feel ready to get into action and have a growth year. Whatever it is for you. So  choose one word that you can focus on based on how you want to feel this year.

For me, my year, my word of the year is breakthrough. I know that this is the year where I am having a breakthrough in my goals and dreams.  Especially in my business, in my coaching, in the podcasting, in my speaking, all of it. I know this year is breakthrough for me. So pick the word that you want to live into.

That's going to create the compass for you in 2024 and how you want to feel.  And then I want you to journal how, what your word is and why you chose it.  Okay. So that was step two, to write out how you want to feel.  And then step three is to actually pick your word. So, from the list that you considered, and step two, writing and journaling about how you want to feel, narrow it down to that one word, that how you want to feel, that makes you feel expansive, that really embodies  What that word means to you.

Step four, pick a phrase of the year. I started doing this phrase of the year last year. I learned this from my business coach, Kim Jobe, and she has a coaching program with her husband, and I have learned so much from her, and I'm actually in a mastermind with her this year. So her husband, we call Coach, and you can check them out at Coach and Kim.

Dot com and I'll put the link in the show notes. I highly recommend that if you are, especially if you're a coach or any kind of speaker or any kind of, um. Um, putting work out in the world in this sort of personal development space, you will want to get on her email list. So again, I'll put all of this in the show notes, but this having a phrase of the year is really helping you embody and bring into reality your word of the year.

So it's really how. You're going to create the space for your word. And so last year, my word was visibility. So I wanted to be more visible and speak more and just be more visible with my work and who I am becoming. And my phrase last year was to do less better. So I wanted to focus more on less things and do them better.

So, in the workbook, I have a long list of phrases, but I'll share a few of them here. And again, you pick the one that resonates most with you. And the phrase, it's kind of like a mantra or an affirmation that you say to yourself. It's a phrase that represents the theme of your year.

So here's a few. And again, you'll come up with the one that means the most to you.  Here's just a few. This is, this first one is mine for the year.  Everything is always working out for me.  Here's some more. My success is inevitable.  This is what it looks like when it's all coming together.  Every day in every way, I'm getting better and better.

My life is happening for me.  This is a good one. Nothing has gone wrong here.  Anyways, I have a whole list of these in the workbook and I also did two episodes on these. I call them life changing phrases because I really do think you can change your life by completely embodying and being the phrase that you choose.

So, I love these phrases so much and my clients love them so much and it has been helping them so much that I did two episodes on this, on the podcast. So episode 25 and then I had to do a part two because my clients kept saying, you didn't say this one, you didn't say that one. They kept telling me things that I had told them and, and coaching that I forgot to put on the podcast.

So episode 25 and then part two is episode  37. Okay, so that was step four, picking your phrase of the year. So step five is intention. What is your overall intention for the year? So I have a hard time actually describing what intention actually is. So I went to Google. And Google says intention setting is the process of creating a clear and focused mental or emotional energy toward a desired outcome or experience with the aim of increasing the likelihood of achieving it.

And I've heard Oprah say that after she read Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, who, um, write and speak a lot about intention, she started every meeting with her producers when they were planning their shows, picking the ideas and concepts and ideas, topics. She started every meeting with asking everyone what their intention for the topic.

And she shared hers  and she said that this is when she started changing her Oprah Winfrey show from just another talk show to focusing on some of the spiritual side of things and on a mission to help people understand these personal development concepts and how to apply them in their life.  And Um, this is when she started having some coaches, um, some life coaches on her show, which is how I first heard of a life coach.

She had Martha Beck on, she had Cheryl Richardson on. Um, and so I love the idea of intention. I think that's probably where I first learned about it from Oprah, Oprah, but she said her intention before she went into the show and that is how powerful it can be. So every show before she went in to have her interviews and her guests, she would set her intention for the experience that she would have.

in the, in the show. And she also asked her guests what their intention was. And then she made sure that she not only served her own attention intention, but also those of her guests, which I absolutely love.  Okay, step number six. So now that you have your intention, you have your word, you have your phrase for For the year in the workbook, I give you a page where you can write these on one page and then hang it up somewhere where you can see it every day.

You could also write this in your journal every day, or even every morning and every night. So you just want to have it in one place so that it's front of mind every day. And then number seven. So now that you've set the stage for how you want to show up in 2024,  how you want to feel who you want to be.

Now we're going to get into your vision. For the year, and I believe that everything starts with a vision without a vision, without knowing where you're going and what you want, you will live your life by default, by what comes at you going with the flow and reacting to things that come up and putting other people and circumstances ahead of your goals and your dreams.

And then you end up at the end of the year, And you wish you'd done more for yourself for your goals and dreams. And so here on the podcast and at the dream Academy, I am all about visioning because the more clarity you have about your vision, the more power you have, the more empowered you are because clarity is power.

So in the workbook, there's a page for each of the four domains of life and you do it in the workbook or you can do it from what you're hearing in the, in the. in this episode, but I want you to write your vision  in the present tense.  And this is how you start bringing it into reality by claiming it by visioning it as if.

You already have it. So start each vision with, I'm so happy and grateful. Now that,  and then write out what you would love, what you would love to have when it's January 1st, 2025. And I want you to do that exercise starting with, I'm so happy and grateful now that, and do it for each of the four domains of life.

So health and wellbeing is one.  Love and relationships is the second, vocation or creative expression, your work in the world, paid or unpaid is number three,  and number four is time and money freedom. So that was step seven,  clear, writing out your vision and getting clarity of it. And so now we go into step eight, and this is when you start bringing your vision into reality.

This is when you get to work. And so from your vision in those four domains, I want you to pick three to five goals. That will help you get there. So you've probably heard of smart goals and actually I've done several podcasts about how to do goal setting and implementation and earlier episodes. So you can go back and listen to some of my early, early episodes about your GPS for success and setting goals and tracking them.

So it's episodes three through 10 that walk you through this whole process. So I'm just going to give you the highlights today.  So pick three to five goals that are specific and measurable and put a due date on them. So a date by when you will have achieved this goal and be specific. It's something that you can measure.

If it's a weight loss goal, it's what your weight is. If it's a financial goal, it's what your money is. Whatever it is, that's a goal. You have to be clear on it. So it needs to be specific and measurable and have a due date. And you have to have the details and the date so that you know  you have achieved it.

Okay. Number nine.  And here's the hard part, and this is where I get the most pushback from my clients. I want you to pick one goal to focus on for 90 days. I want you to go all in on one goal, and you will be amazed at how much momentum you get, and then you can achieve it, and then you can use this process again and again.

And this is where most people give up because they have too many goals, and they try and do them all at the same time. So I want you to pick one. And I know that's hard for a lot of us, and it's okay if you want to pick more, but I really encourage you to pick one that you're really going to focus on. So if you have other goals, that's okay, but pick one that you're really going to focus on and give your time and your energy and attention to.

That is the goal that you have a no matter what attitude on. So pick the goal, make it specific and measurable and give it a due date. It should be something that you can do in 90 days. So if your overall goal. Is for your vision is more than you can do in 90 days. That's okay. Just break it out into smaller goals so that you can focus on 90 days at a time.

You can always  pick up that goal in 90 days and make more progress on it. Achieve another result. So let's say you want to focus on your health and well being and you want to lose 30 pounds this year and you want to feel healthy and strong and love the way you feel in your body, whatever that is. So for that one, you might want to say, okay, 30 pounds this year.

So for these 90 days, I'm going to do eight pounds or 10 pounds. Just, I want you to pick something that seems doable. That seems realistic. That will pull you to get into action, but you're not going to get overwhelmed with it because it's doable. Okay. Number 10,  and here's where a lot of people miss, and I think this is the critical success factor for goal achievement.

So the only thing between where you are now. And the 90 day goal is  your obstacles. Everything that's in your way, and once you identify them, you can put strategies to overcome them and put those into action to create the result. So consider things like making room in your calendar, asking for support, brainstorm all the things that are in your way.

And this might be a lot of thoughts, like I've tried this before and it never works. I'm not consistent. I don't think I can do it. I don't have enough time. I don't have enough energy. Write out all the things that you think are Obstacles that are in your way. So I want you to write everything that comes to mind, everything that you think is in your way from achieving your goal.

And then you can also consider asking yourself these questions. What equipment or resources do I need? What accountability do I need? What changes in my schedule do I need? What support do I need? What else do I need to achieve my goal? So you can write all of that down and then put strategies, things that you're going to do to overcome the obstacle.

And now number 11,  and again, this is another one that most people miss in goal setting and goal achievement is habits. What habits do you need to support you and your goal?  So this is one of my favorite quotes from my mentor, Jim Ford, and he says this, you don't get your goals. You get your habits  and the key is to start small make it realistic and doable You can always add more later So as an example if your goal is to walk 30 minutes three times a day three times a week Start with five minutes and work up from there.

I tell my clients sometimes start with putting your shoes on  The shoes that you wanna wear when you're walking, just put them on every day. You don't even have to go for a walk. So whatever it is, I just want you to make it small and realistic and do doable. And I think I've told you all this before on the podcast, but I set a habit, a goal that I want to create for myself of walking every day.

So what I did, the commitment that I made for this year, so all of 2024, I committed my to myself that I will walk. Outside. So I have a treadmill. Sometimes I do the treadmill, but outside for five minutes a day. That's it. Five minutes a day. Now, most days I do a lot more than that,  but I do five minutes every day, no matter what, before I go to bed.

I'm going to do my five minutes and you know, sometimes it's like at 930 at night  and I just walk around my cul de sac for five minutes. I'm sure my neighbors are thinking, what is she doing?  But anyways, whatever it is, I want you to commit to it and that's why I want you to make it small. So the things that you can ask yourself, what habits do I need to add?

And what habits do I need to remove?  And for me, a lot of the habits that I've worked on over the years that have helped me in my goals and creating  living into the vision and creating the vision that for my life in business is what habits do I need to let go of?  Jim Fortin asked this question in his TCP coaching program.

In the first week, he asks us this question. What is the number one negative habit that's impacting your life. And I have been asking myself that question for three.  And once I, and I made, I made a list of like six habits that were impacting me negatively and I went through all of them  and they were all things that I needed to remove.

So I'm not gonna say what they all were on the podcast, but I'm on the fifth one and I've never gone back and it is such a powerful process to ask yourself what is the single most negative. Habit that's impacting me the most in my life and keeping me from my goals so you can ask yourself that. Okay.

Number 12, I want you to break out your goal into a monthly goal. And again, there's a section in the workbook to do this. So for 90 days, there's three months. So month one, month two, month three,  and then for each month, you're going to have a goal. You're going to have a habit. And you're gonna have a plan and then that's it.

So you have your 90 day goal. You've got your vision. You've got your habits. You've got strategies for what's in your way. And you've got a plan and your plan doesn't have to be some big elaborate thing. Your plan is just what you're going to do every day. And I like to say, Do three things every day toward your goal.

Sometimes you might just do one thing, but do something every day in the direction of your goal. My mentor, Mary Morrissey says a five minute power move every day. So at, we all have five minutes. To make a power move. It could be make a phone call. It could be to, um,  uh, write some, you know, write a letter, send an email, make a phone call.

Like, there's something that you can do. There's always a five minute power move that you can do. And of course you can do more, but it's about every day. It's about every day taking action in the direction of your dream. And I really like to plan The week of all the things I'm going to do in the week and then every day commit to 3.

I learned this process also from Jim Thorpe. Jim Fortin is to commit to 3.  Tasks every day that move you in the direction of your dream that move you in the direction of goal achievement. So you can do there's so many different ways. You can do planning. Um, it doesn't have to be some big elaborate thing.

It's just what what you're going to do. And then here's the another key part is by when are you going to do it? So you put it in your calendar. You.  And people do this differently. You can put it as an actual meeting in your calendar, or you can just say you're going to do it on a certain day, but some way of  putting it down of when you're going to do it so you can say exactly what day and time and put it as a meeting in your calendar.

That's what I do. Or you can just write it down for the day that I'm going to do this today. But your calendar, your plan for the day is another structure of support that you can use when you ask yourself by when. Will I have this done?  And then of course, honoring your calendar and that's it.  Those are the 12 steps to make 2024 your best year yet.

And if you do this, your success is inevitable. Inevitable  because here's the secret.  It's not really about the goal. It's who you become in the process. Going after your goals and dreams will get you out of your comfort zone and everything you want, all the things in your vision are outside  of your comfort zone.

And this 12 step process will help you Get there and move in the direction of your dreams. And I'll leave you with this quote. This is one of my all time favorites from my mentor and a coach at the life coach school where I got my, my first life coach certification. And she, this quote is awesome.

Discomfort is the currency of your dreams.  So what are you willing to be? Uncomfortable with in service of your dreams, in the direction of your vision, and what are you willing to do  this year now?  These next 90 days, where do you want to be 90 days from now?  It's possible for you. All right. That's what I have for you today So be sure and go get the workbook So it's the dream academy.

com slash workbook And I will send you the workbook where you can do this work on your own You can print it out you can do all the exercises and then you can have that with you so that you can really  Get into the direction of your dream and create the results that you love. All right. I'll talk to y'all next week.

Bye.  If you love what you're learning here on the podcast and you want to start implementing these concepts into your daily life, then you must get my free course where I will teach you how to get 10 hours back a week. Imagine what you could create with 10 more hours a week. So go to the dreamacademy/freecourse and learn about the magic wand of time. Thanks for listening. Bye